Keeping in shape and getting fit won’t just leave you looking good, it will also increase your chances of a longer, healthier life.
The road to achieving the desired level of fitness isn’t always the easiest and it does require motivation, determination and patience. As well as maintaining a regular workout routine and healthy diet there a few other things you can do to help boost your health and will also help you feel more energetic and motivated.
As tempting as it may be, if you can walk somewhere ditch the car keys and walk there. Sedentary lifestyles are becoming the norm.
Most of us have a car and easy access to public transport and it’s too easy to skip a ten minute walk into town in favour of a two minute drive- we get it. The problem is that the body just wasn’t designed to be so inactive. Humans are meant to move about so even by adding in a 20 minute walk into your daily routine you’ll be giving your fitness a helping hand. And just think of the petrol, parking and travel fare costs you’ll save!
It’s also worth noting that a lot of us will abide by the RDA calorie intake, however there is an expectation of some activity being carried out with it. If you’re not moving about your body won’t be able to use that normal level of calories and you’ll find your weight stays the same or even increases.
You’ve no doubt heard about the great benefits high intensity training can offer you. It’s almost being presented as a miracle workout that promises to make you shed bucket loads of fat and it does sound too good to be true. It probably is too good to be true, however it really is a fantastic way to give your health and fitness levels a boost. HIT doesn’t just mean those highly pumped classes it also refers to intense bouts of cardio exercise so even if you don’t have access to a gym you can still blast it with a run or a bike ride.
Training outdoors is also another great way to boost your fitness levels as working out in the cold air actually pushes your body to work even harder!
HIT pushes your body to work at an extreme level and really ramps up your cardiovascular functions to the degree that your body will be working hard to repair itself hours after you’ve completed the exercise. This really isn’t as dramatic as it sounds. If you’re of good health this just means you’ll be doing a super hard workout followed by some aching! And the plus is that because the body is working so hard it boosts your metabolism leading to a much more efficient level of calorie burning for that period- put it this way, you’ll body will need that RDA of calories!
Some days, the gym or a run outside just isn’t appealing. Make a change to this and incorporate a sports session with friends once or twice a week. The social element will make the exercise much more enjoyable and it also makes it competitive giving you that extra motivation to do your best. A great workout to do with friends is squash. The game requires you to move all parts of your body, it uses upper and lower body strength and you can potentially burn an extra 10 percent more calories.
Getting fit and healthy isn’t easy. It does require dedication and it can take some time before you see the results you really want. The important thing is just to keep going no matter what and find ways to keep yourself motivated, because as soon as you start getting the results you want there’ll be no stopping you!
